Butterfingers
I catch the bus,
I catch the train.
At times I even catch a plane.
I catch a cold,
I catch the flu.
I catch what normal people do.
So, why, I ask you,
one and all –
why can’t I catch a stupid ball?
Category Archives: Poem of the Day
“Yard Cricket” by Ron Marsh
Leave a comment
YARD CRICKET
On pleasant summer afternoons,
My dad and I play cricket.
The dog he loves to chase the ball,
So he’s behind the wicket.
Our yard is small,
And so the ball
Is not hit very far.
But if we hit a window,
We cop a blast from ma.
I hit a whopping six some days.
That’s when it goes next door.
And if the neighbour gets upset,
We take that off the score.
When dad is batting I get scared.
I wish my gloves were leather.
He hits them fast, and most get past,
As I clap my hands together
“Question” with Teacher Notes by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentQuestion
Would you like
to say Hi
to a beetle?
A beetle would
like to say Hi
to you. . .
Teacher Notes:
This poem can be a fun-exercise with 6-9 year olds. Get prompts from the class for a range of insects. This can also instruct them in the types and range of insects and for example, in the case of beetles, the enormous number of different kinds, viz. dung-beetles, stag-beetles and their importance in nature. It can also be interesting to divide the class into two groups, with one half asking the question, ‘Would you like/to say Hi/to a beetle? substituting meanwhile the names of different insects, while the replies are given by the other half of the class.
“A Bite in the Night” by Monty Edwards
Leave a comment
A Bite in the Night
My pillow’s soft beneath my head;
My light is out; I’m snug I bed.
I’ve said goodnight to Dad and Mum,
Expecting soon that sleep will come,
But . . .
What’s this I hear, so near my ear?
A buzz? A whine? Oh no! Oh dear!
I know that sound. It’s one I dread:
A lone mosquito overhead!
So . . .
Lying still, I free my hand;
I’m waiting for the pest to land.
The drone will stop, then “0uch”, the bite!
I whack my cheek with all my might!
Then . . .
All is quiet now, I can rest:
One good whack has killed the pest.
Though my cheek is feeling sore,
That mosquito bites no more!
“Ants” by Ron Marsh
Leave a commentANTS
I was eating supper very late,
And chanced to look upon my plate,
A little black ant standing there,
Just about to share my fare.
I said to him “now listen mate,
I want you quickly off my plate”.
To ants one should not be so bold,
He’s brought back friends a hundred-fold.
“Cafe Six” by Kate O’Neil
Leave a commentCAFÉ SIX
Try our new
Infestation Menu
It’s the food of the future
so we have created
some fine dining dishes
to keep you updated.
Are you itching to try
mosquito mousse?
or fleas flambé?
Perhaps you’d like
a light stir-fry
of tender glow-worms.
Crusty crickets
would add some crunch
to vary the texture,
served as a side.
(By Jiminy, that’s what
I’d have for lunch.)
Try truffled termites
with pesto sauce
on maggot mash.
Or fruit-fly fritters
with grasshopper gravy
or cicada croquettes
and hairy-bug hash.
Caterpillar curry’s
a dish to-die-for –
a robust feed.
rich and nutritious
(fabulous grub).
If a smaller snack
is all you need
you might like a serve
of buttered fly.
Or a coddled moth.
Perhaps you’d like
cicada soup.
Or a medley of mealworms
cooked in broth
then lightly charred.
Silverfish soufflés
(in moulds and baked twice)
for special occasions
you’ll remember forever
(expensive but nice).
And when you’ve had your fill of these –
a platter of crackers and assorted bees.
© Kate O’Neil
“If a fly” by Monty Edwards
Leave a commentIf a fly . . . Continue Reading »
A RHUPUNT FOR SPRING with Teacher Notes by James Aitchison
Leave a commentA RHUPUNT FOR SPRING
Spring’s colour thrills
when daffodils
and bold jonquils
burst into bloom.
Tulips tower,
freesias flower,
colours shower,
banishing gloom.
All spring we’re blessed;
bulbs give their best,
’til time to rest
in a dark room.
James Aitchison
Teacher Notes: How about trying this with your students?
A RHUPUNT FOR SPRING
A rhupunt (pronounced hree’-pint) is a Welsh poem with some curious rules:
- Each line must have four syllables
- The first three lines of each stanza must rhyme
- The final line of each stanza must rhyme with the final lines of the other stanzas (in other words: aaab, cccb, dddb, eeeb, etc)
- Each stanza works as a complete sentence or verse in itself.
- If you prefer, stanzas can have three lines (aab, ccb, etc) — or five lines (aaaab, ccccb, etc) — it’s up to you.
“Kookaburra sits” by Stephanie Boase
Leave a commentKookaburra sits
On a clothes line tall,
Carefully surveying
The urban sprawl.
Spying a movement
In the grass,
He swoops down swiftly.
Dinner at last!
Won’t you laugh kookaburra,
Laugh for me?
Your life is so much harder
Than it used to be.
Stephanie Boase
Australian Children’s Poetry 